On May 14, 1990, the Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en Plaintiffs in Delgamuukw v. The Queen made their closing statements at the end of their trial.

As reprinted in the United Native Nations 1990 book of their AGM presentations, they said:

     “We, the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en people, are in the court to state the truth of the ownership and jurisdiction we exercise over our territories.

     Three years have passed since we made our opening statements to this court at that time you did not know who Delgamuukw and Gisdaywa were. Now, this court knows I am Gisdaywa, a Wet’suwet’en Chief who has responsibility for the House of Kaiyexwaniits of the Gitdumden. I have explained how my House holds the Biiwenii Ben Territory and had the privilege of showing it to you. Long ago my ancestors encountered the spirit of that Land and accepted the responsibility to care for it. In return, the Land has fed the House Members and those whom the Chiefs permitted to harvest its resources. Those who have obeyed the laws of respect and balance have prospered there.

     I am Delgamuukw, the third since this trial started. I also have obligations to my House and the Territories of my House. You have heard oral histories of the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en that tell of the many groups that migrated into our Territories. Many stayed, contributing to our culture, acknowledging the authority of our chiefs and obeying our laws.

     Of all these groups, only the Europeans failed to recognize our ownership and jurisdiction. This court now has an opportunity to redress this situation.

     We, the Hereditary Chiefs, decided against wearing blankets and regalia in this courtroom because we believe that our authority would not be respected by the government lawyers. Under our law, disrespect for people and for their territory requires compensation.

     We, the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en, must be compensated for loss of the Land’s present integrity and for the loss of economic rents.

     We ask that the court, not only acknowledge our ownership and jurisdiction over the Land, but to restore it to a form adequate for Nature to heal in terms of restoration. We would like to see clearcuts and plantations returned to forests, contaminated rivers and lakes returned to their original pristine state, reservoirs of drowned forests returned to living lakes and life-sustaining flows to diverted rivers.

     We realize that the true financial value of this compensation for restoration would bankrupt both the federal and provincial governments. Compensation must remain an ongoing obligation of the federal and provincial governments “Until Our hearts are satisfied.”

     However, this compensation should not be viewed by this court as an alternative to the acknowledgement of our ownership and jurisdiction of our Land. We do not want financial compensation without the recognition of our authority over our Territories.

     We are asking you to make declarations on Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en Aboriginal Title. We, the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en people, own our Lands.

     I will identify those areas where the powers of the province and the federal governments need to be restrained in order for us to exercise our responsibilities under Aboriginal Title.

     First, we the Chiefs must have our authority recognized in order to exercise our responsibility to protect the Land for the future, and to conserve resources. We must have the power to manage all human activity that bring change to the Land, Air or Water on all of our territories.

     Second, to enable each House to provide for its members and all those living in their Territory, the Chiefs must have control over the local economy by managing natural resource allocations within their Territories. This would include licensing, leasing, and permitting. As well, royalties and taxation payments from resource use on our Territories must be paid to us.

     It is not our intention to exert any powers over the non-Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en people living in our Territories. Fee-simple lands held by third parties as of October, 1984, would be exempt from this resource allocation.

     We see the pulling back of these central government powers as being the minimum required to restore not only individual self-reliance but also community self-reliance. We have presented you with ample evidence of the effects on our Land resulting from government resource management. We have also given evidence of the effect that centralized economic management and government welfare has had on our people. The governments’ system does not work. We, the Hereditary Chiefs, believe we can change the situation under our laws and practices through our authority.

     Our system of government is as powerful today and will be as powerful tomorrow, as it was one hundred or ten thousand years ago. You have heard both ancient and modern histories tell of

how our system has remained relevant through the evolving ecological, cultural and economic circumstances in which our people have found themselves. To say we disobey our laws and ignore our Chiefs’ authority because we change a piece of technology, or use our Land in a different way, is a desperate argument.

This case then is about learning from the past so we can repair the present and pass on a healthier Land to our grandchildren. It is not about retrieving frozen rights from a nineteenth century ice-box.

Our Aboriginal Title is found in common law and takes precedence over the provincial crown. We do not have to, and will not, surrender our Aboriginal Title in order to be recognized by the federal government. We are self-governing.

     However, we see a layering of responsibilities among the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en, the federal government, and the provincial government being resolved in an ongoing series of negotiations. Given the strong imperative for the, Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en, British Columbia and Canada have social and economic activities continue within our Territories, consensus on the necessary political and administrative framework must be found.

     We are asking this court to properly apply common law. We want a declaration of recognition and affirmation of our continued ownership and jurisdiction. We will not surrender or diminish our Title and rights. We do not request a “right” to use and occupy the Land, and we refuse extended Reserve Lands. We will decide what our future relationship will be with Canada and British Columbia on that basis.

     We ask nothing more than what should have occurred prior to Confederation, and prior to this province entering Confederation. We are here to right the wrongs that have been occurring for over one hundred years. This court has the power to recognize and affirm Gitksan and Wetsuwet’en ownership and jurisdiction.

Closing Statement of the Chiefs

By

Gisdaywa a.k.a. Alfred Joseph

Delgamuukw a.k.a. Earl Muldoe

Yagalahl a.k.a. Dora Wilson-Kenni

Maas Gaak a.k.a. Don Ryan

May 14, 1990